DrunkWooky’s Crystal Ball Spec for September

Variants are great, exclusives are nice, but we all know that what’s inside make a comic last. This column is about the meat between the shiny incentive cover and the final full-page ad on the back for a toy you’re a little to old to admit to owning! What is going on inside that is going to be a big deal? This is where we guess. This is DrunkWooky’s Crystal Ball Spec!

Wouldn’t we have like to have been there when Bill Gates was begging for investors? More realistically, wouldn’t we have liked to have been slightly less cheap when that Edge of Spider-Verse #2 was in our hand so many Wednesdays ago? Well DrunkWooky’s freshly back from the rumor-verse and ready to dole out some predictions.

1. First, Valiant’s Book of Death summer event is giving Marvel’s Secret Wars a run for its money. For one, with only four issues in the main mini and four one-shot “Fall” titles, the event is more self-contained and manageable. What makes it even more tantalizing is the fact that the very premise promises first appearances. Now, we know not all first appearances are worth a shiny quarter in exchange for their shiny chromium covers. However, getting in on the ground floor means being willing to gamble that $3.00 up front.

In Book of Death, a new Geomancer from the future is reading through the Book of the Geomancer, a book that has recorded all of Earth’s history. Because this book is from the future, it holds all sorts of predictions about the Valiant Universe, including first appearances!

There’s a two-page spread with many new faces in it (pic courtesy of Bleeding Cool). What I noticed, though, is the first appearance of the Beast Brigade. The Beast Brigade appears to be an animal version of the Unity team. We’ve got a goat, dolphin, monkey, bison, and Bloodhound!

Now, in the Bloodshot Reborn #5, another Bloodhound appears along side Bloodshot and Bloodsquirt during a hallucination sequence. There is an undeniable difference in design, but perhaps we have the development of the all-animal Unity team happening in small bursts throughout the Valiant line now.

2. The news was all over the internet this past week: Gwenpool is entering into real Marvel canon with an approximately 8-page back-up story in Howard the Duck #1 at the end of the year. To up the ante, Ron Lim has drawn a Gwenpool variant for Howard the Duck #1. In it, we see the merc-ette with (out a single speech bubble to her name yet) a mouth threatening a Hydra agent at sword point. Now you, the reader, can roll your eyes at Gwenpool, but the fact of the matter is that (1) Spider-Gwen is huge whether we like it or not; (2) Deadpool is also huge whether we like it or not; (3) women read Spider-man, Spider-Gwen, and probably Deadpool. Now Marvel is finally listening and catering to that demographic. If you want to get in on the ground floor of this one Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #2 Bachalo Variant is Gwenpool’s first appearance (just the cover, I know, crazy!). mycomicshop.com sold out of them at $5 the other night when Anthony posted it. Ebay sales have steadily climbed from $4.99 to $39.99: recent closed eBay sales

Look out for Lim Variant preorders of Howard the Duck #1 coming up for the first real in-universe appearance of Gwenpool.

3. Finally, Bleeding Cool connected most of the dots here , but it appears that Young Terrorists from Black Mask might be the “Avengers” of the Black Mask shared universe. To get in on the ground floor of this one, there are a number of Black Mask first appearances of characters before Young Terrorists including Godkiller #1, Ballistic #4, Liberator #2, and rumored Occupy Comics #1.

Ironically enough, whereas Valiant’s Beast Brigade would be about heroic animals, Black Mask’s Liberator is about a hero who saves animals. See how we came full circle there!?

Thanks for reading CHU readers. Let me know what you think in the comments!

25 thoughts on “DrunkWooky’s Crystal Ball Spec for September”

Nice info. I have almost every book that you have listed. I’ve been holding up to some books for the same reason that valiant and black mask are going to be the next Marvel in the cinematic world. Can’t wait to hear some medial deals on these books and if so, go and watch them and say ” I have that story in by collection box” lol

Update: Howard the Duck ##1-3 will ALL have back-up stories. Updated #1 soliciation:

First spectacular issue! A great jumping on point! Sure to go up in value! Don’t miss out on the series everyone is calling ‘Howard the Duck’! The last page will shock you! Nothing will EVER be the same again! Hey! Where are you going? Gwenpool – she’s smart, she’s charming, and she can shoot and stab her way through a gaggle of Hydra goons before you know it! And she’s coming to our universe for special backup stories in HOWARD THE DUCK #1 – #3 – written by Christopher Hastings with art by Marvel newcomer Danilo Beyruth! Come back! Waugh! Rated T+ (W) Chip Zdarsky (A/CA) Joe Quinones SHIP DATE: 11/4/2015

I’ve really been enjoying the Book of Death and some of the Valiant titles lately. Matt Kindt definitely one of my favorite writers as of lately (Ninjak) and Venditti is doing a great job with Book of Death.

Ninjak is ridiculously good week after week. I dropped Bloodshot Reborn from weekly pulls because it was mostly Bloodshot lamenting his past. Lots of emotional character development without a ton of action. Also, the random shootings were a little too real…

You’ve got me wavering now. Maybe I’ll see what #6 and the “new arc” have in store. The solicite makes it sound like the rampage is about to begin.

As far as the dark stuff, I just read Preacher for the first time this week (I KNOW!). My upstairs neighbor and I have a mini book club/exchange going.Some of Preacher was difficult to read, but I loved it because it forced me to be uncomfortable. Perhaps I should look at the mass shootings in Bloodshot the same way.

thanks for the post, d-wooky. among the first appearance books you have listed is Godkiller # 1 but the issue that the Bleeding Cool article mentions is Godkiller # 7. just wanted to see if that was a typo or if Godkiller # 1 also has a potentially important first. thanks again and keep up the good work!